The connection relates to rectangular or square panels laid to form an assembly.
Wall, ceiling and floor coverings such as prefabricated parquet flooring, real wood flooring or laminated flooring consist of several, predominantly rectangular, panels. Conventionally the panels have continuous grooves on a longitudinal side and on an end side, and on the respectively opposite longitudinal side or end side continuous tongues, which are form fittingly adapted to the grooves. The panels are installed via the connection between the groove and tongue. Depending on the laying pattern also checkerboard-like laying patterns are possible in which the butt joints between the panels intersect. The term checkerboard-like also means a laying pattern in which essentially rectangular panels are laid in aligned rows and columns so that the butt joints intersect between the panels and not only abut each other in a T-shaped manner.
It is known to arrange mechanical connecting means on the grooves and tongues which latchingly engage with each other in neighboring panels of a floor covering. This is intended to prevent gap formation due to expansion or shrinkage. On the groove or tongue of the panels matching locking elements in the form of depressions, recesses or protrusions are formed in order to hold the joined panels together without glue. Usually the panels are twisted or clicked into each other along their longitudinal sides and are then laterally displaced so that locking rails at the end sides engage with each other. The panels are arranged offset to each other.
Checkerboard-like arranged panels with intersecting butt joints enable different laying patterns. In particular a square panel can be laid rotated by 90° relative to a neighboring panel in order to obtain a more varied laying pattern. In panels for floor coverings usually the groove and tongue are configured different on the longitudinal sides than on the transverse sides so that the panels can only be connected with each other via their longitudinal sides or only via their transverse sides. A rotation by 90° in order to connect a transverse side with a longitudinal side is possible.